Category: sugar

The popular coffee shop that has two locations in Long Beach and a location in Laguna Hills has now hit Torrance!

There’s nothing like having some freshly brewed artisan coffee to kick off the weekend and that’s just what I did on a fine Friday that marked the end of the work week.

Steelhead Coffee’s location in Torrance is cute and small. It’s located at the lobby of the office of the Daily Breeze Newspaper. With a very minimalistic design, I could definitely see how this would be a great place to simply enjoy a warm cup of coffee.

Their menu consists of drip coffee, cold brew, cortado, lattes and cappuccinos. One can add vanilla, lavender, caramel and chocolate to their drinks too.

I found their caramel latte to be so smooth. It was not too rich but yet perfect for a slightly sweet kick to start off the morning.

I instantly became a fan of their almond croissant. With its crispy, flaky skin on the outside topped with sliced almonds and almond paste in the inside; this croissant was the perfect pairing for my caramel latte.

The food offerings doesn’t stop however with bread and pastries because there is more at Steelhead Coffee! The Steelhead Kitchen offers a variety of freshly made hot dishes such as congee, avocado bread and even a Steelhead burger!

I got to try their congee and was amazed at all the wonderful ingredients in the bowl. The rice porridge had fresh persian cucumber, kimchi, sriracha mixed in toasted sesame and soy sauce and topped with soft-boiled egg. It was definitely one of the most special rice porridges I’ve ever seen or had!

It is no surprise Steelhead Coffee has been such a hit in their first three locations. From their sweet sips to their savory treats; one is sure to smile and have a an amazing start to the day!

For more smiles; please see my latest Yelp review on Steelhead Coffee Torrance.

There’s a new place in the South Bay to get a good cup of coffee for cold days or an iced cold boba for chilly days. Newberry Coffee and Tea just opened up this January 2019 in Torrance, CA! Newberry Coffee Roasters gets all their coffee beans from Brazil, Columbia, Indonesia, Panama, Guatemala and Hondura and they roast their coffee locally in Los Angeles weekly. Being a big coffee and boba fan, I had to check this place out.

Since it was a rather warm day in Los Angeles, my eye was on their Favorite Blended menu. Two in particular caught my eye; the Caramel Frappe and the Taro Milk Molly

For those looking for a great day kickstart, the Caramel Frappe is one that I recommend! With espresso, caramel, coffee jelly and oreo; it’s the perfect blend of coffee and sweet. I liked the hints of caramel within in the espresso. Typically espresso drinks can be a bit too strong for me but here they do it just right.

The Taro Milk Molly has milk, taro, panda boba and custard. This one is a classic boba drink for those who like simple and sweet.

The frappe and molly were just two of the drinks that I enjoyed. They have many more in their Favorite Blended menu but you can also customize and make your own!

It’s always nice to see a nice new coffee shop. Newberry Coffee and Tea Company hits the spot for when craving some coffee or boba!

For more smiles, please my Yelp Review on Newberry Coffee and Tea Company!

“While it may seem small, the ripple effects of small things is extraordinary.”

Hello 2019! The new year is upon us! I am happy to write about a small new coffee shop that is sure to bring extraordinary eats and drinks to many this new year.

Offset Coffee opened up in Torrance, California just this December 27, 2018. The owners are two locals who simply love coffee. They wanted to share their love of coffee via opening up the only multi-roaster coffee shop in the South Bay.

Walking in, I instantly became a fan of the small and simple cafe. It definitely sets an “offset” type of mood from the hustle and bustle of a busy life. Very simple. Very basic. It’s all about taking a breather and simply enjoying the coffee here.

Their menu consists of various coffee delights ranging from drip coffee to cortado and flavored lattes. Flavored lattes are vanilla, hazelnut and lavender. They also offer cold brews, Mexican cokes and hot chocolate.

Upon my visit here, my mom and I tried the hazelnut latte and cappuccino, respectively.

The hazelnut latte was simply delightful. It had the right hint of hazelnut flavor in the cup. It was nutty, sweet and creamy and a perfect match to the pastries we would also try on this visit.

The cappuccino was also great. A perfect starter for the day with it’s rich and bold flavor.

To go along with are cups of coffee, we tried two of their fresh baked pastries. Offset’s pastries are from Bakers Kneaded. Bakers Kneaded bakes daily in Los Angeles organic whole grain breads and pastries from California sourced and grown ingredients.

First up we tried the bombolini.

Talk about heaven in a bite. These Italian doughnuts are filled with custard that simply melts in the mouth. It is no wonder these sell out almost daily at the shop.

The next pastry we tried was their almond croissants.

The almond croissants have a buttery, flaky crust topped with powdered sugar and almonds. Inside is a lovely almond paste that is simply perfection.

Trying out Offset Coffee was great way or shall I say an extraordinary way to start the new year. I cannot wait to have more “offset” days.

Silva’s Fresh Eatery and Churrascaria just recently had their grand opening in Orange County. Silva’s history takes it back to the Brazilian Clubs of the 60s and New York and now they are offering modern Brazilian cuisine right at the heart of Orange County in the South Coast Metro.

Their menu has both Brazilian and international cuisine that is curated by Chef John Vega; formerly of Roy’s Newport Beach. Diners get to experience dishes made out of organic and locally sourced ingredients. Dishes include delights such as Pincanha Skirt Steak, Feiojada and Biro-Biro Brazilian fried rice. There’s even an option for a “All You Can Eat Feast” that includes a customized meal from the Chef’s Table as well as other ordering options.

I had visited the Creme de la Crêpe location in Hermosa Beach many years ago and upon spotting this crepe cafe on a visit to the Peninsula Promenade, I knew I had to checkout via Creme de la Crepe Rolling Hills. After all who cannot be crazy for crepes? 🙂

The French delight consisting of a thin pastry is quite hard to find in Southern California. much less place that offers both sweet crêpes and savoury galettes. Here at Creme de la Crêpe however they have variety of both the sweet and savory. All of their crêpes are even made with gluten-free crêpe batter. Aside from crêpes they have lovely dishes like risotto and pastas along with amazing wine selection.

I started off with getting a savory crêpe. It was hard to choose from the various savory delights. They use local & organic produce as well as grass-fed beef & free-range poultry. I ended up getting the Marocaine.

The Marocaine has jack cheese, spicy lamb sausage & madeira mushroom sauce. I don’t often get lamb but tonight I wanted to try something different and indulge in something special. Special indeed was the Marocaine. The lamb sausage was nice and tender and not spicy at all. I love the madeira mushroom sauce. There were several slices of mushroom and the sauce itself was thick and tasty.

From savory to sweet, we could not pass up getting a sweet crêpe for dessert. Our choice was the Leila.

The Leila was indeed one crêpe not to be passed up. Named after the owner’s daughter is this delightful sweet treat. In between the soft thin pastry were chunks of banana. On top of the crêpe was caramelized pecans, drizzles of caramel sauce and sprinkles of powdered sugar. The banana along with the pecans were amazing.

A perfect match with our crêpe were the delightful Lavazza Italian espressos.

Bold, rich and full of flavor; our espressos were the right companion to our sweet crepes.

Dinner at Creme de le Crepe Rolling Hills was indeed a lovely time and my visit here all proved that I am indeed crazy for crepes. Crepe crush indeed.

It’s so sweet to be Yelp elite and it truly was a sweet time at the recent Yelp LA Elite event at the newest Randy’s Donuts that just opened up in El Segundo at Apollo Landing.

Randy’s Donuts has been serving delicious donuts since 1962. Everything is made by hand and they even have a special, unique flour that is used just by the store! They’re all about quality and being affordable. They’re world famous for a reason.

Last night, us Yelp LA elites got to be partake in a very special celebration of their new store and we got to taste a variety of the donuts that they’re world-famous for.

Randy’s Donuts donut menu is split between classic, deluxe, fancy and premium. Classic donuts include glazed raised, chocolate iced cake and crumb cake. Deluxe donuts include glazed twist, blueberry cake and maple cruller. For those who like fancy, there is roasted coconut raised, cinnamon roll and bear claw. Lastly for the ones looking for really unique treat there are the premium donuts. The premium menu has delicious treats like red velvet with ganache and crumbs, fruity pebbles crumb and s’mores raised.

If you’re not drooling already from their extensive donut menu; then you surely will be drooling once you have the El Segundo exclusive Breakfast Donut sandwiches! During the event, we were all treated to this unique and special sandwich (and yes, we were all drooling ;).

Breakfast Donut sandwiches are made with glazed donut rolls with maple pepper bacon, all natural sausage, cafe free eggs, hash browns and American cheese. You can even spice it up with siracha or tapatio sauce! It’s the perfect mix of sweet and salty. It was truly intense but truly delicious as well.

Randy’s Donuts El Segundo location is just the start of delicious donuts taking over the foodie world. They will soon have a Downey location, a Hollywood location and even a Manila, Philippines location and Jeju Island, Korea location. I am so thankful to Yelp LA for this special look of the new Randy’s Donuts in El Segundo.

For more smiles, please see my Yelp Review on Yelp’s First Look at Randy’s Donuts.

Today, July 15 is one very sweet and special day because today we celebrate our favorite sweet treat; ice cream! In honor of this delicious holiday, I am sharing with all of my dear Hello Kitty Foodies some special sweet spots where you can get some awesome sweet treats!

1.) Godiva – Aside from their amazing chocolates, Godiva also has soft serve ice cream! I love their white chocolate soft serve ice cream. Served on the raspberry and rose cone, this is definitely one beautiful and delicious treat!

2.) Wanderlust Creamery – One of my favorite things about Wanderlust Creamery is how they offer unique flavors from around the world! From Filipino ube to Japanese black sesame; it’s like you are going on an ice cream journey around the world when you eat here.

3.) -8C Ice Cream – Located in Gardena’s Pacific Square Plaza is this wonderful ice cream shop specializing in rolled ice cream. My favorite is the “Peanut Butter Jealous.” I topped this with some of my favorite toppings of mango, graham crackers and oreos.

4.) Scoops – At Far East Plaza, right across from hot spot Howlin’s Rays is a sweet spot called Scoops! This ice cream shop boosts unique flavors like lavender goat cheese, Guinness tiramisu and hazelnut passion fruit and Bianca bread. The Bianca bread is definitely one of my favorites.

5.) Mashti Malone’s – When in Hollywood, one definitely needs to check out Mashti Malone’s. They specialize in exotic flavors from Iran. Their creamy Alfonso mango ice cream is a must for any hot day!

6.) Melt Gelato – In the South Bay, Melt Gelato is the place to go for crepes and gelato. Located at El Segundo at Plaza El Segundo, they’ve got both sorbets and gelato. Who doesn’t love the Italian sweet treat? My gelato of choice is their coconut macadamia ice cream.

7.) Smitten Ice Cream – Who wouldn’t be smitten with Smitten? Their churned to order nitrogen ice cream is smooth, tasty and simply perfect.

8.) Bruster’s – With their handcrafted ice cream piled on a gigantic waffle cone; one can’t help but smile when getting a treat from this newly opened shop in Torrance! Cookie craze, cherry vanilla and black raspberry chocolate ice cream is calling my name.

9.) Pressed Juicery – A healthy frozen treat? Yes, please! Pressed Juicery brings healthy and happy with their Freeze! It puts a new spin on our favorite treat via this soft serve made out of cold pressed juices!

10.) Yogurtland – Our favorite Fro-yo place is now also serving ice cream! There’s classical flavors like vanilla and chocolate along with fun flavors like butter pecan and chocolate malt ball ice cream. (It’s also buy one, get one free today from 1-6pm. 😉)

12.) Kansha Creamery – Kansha means grateful in Japanese and I’m so grateful for this Japanese ice cream shop in Torrance. Their Mr. Universal with caramel and oatmeal cookies is the best! Aside from scoops of ice cream, they also offers parfaits. The matcha parfait seems to be a favorite of many. It consists of vanilla ice cream, matcha jelly, matcha syrup, mochi, corn flakes, red bean paste, whipped cream and matcha ice cream.

13.) Hisaya Kyoto Roasted Chestnuts – This chestnut shop in Torrance is chestnut galore with their offerings of chestnuts, chestnut coffee, chestnut tiramisu and chestnut ice cream! Their Mt. Fuji sundae is packed with delicious ice cream! Ice cream choices include matcha, chocolate, strawberry and chestnut flavor. 😉 This sundae is a 9oz ice cream that is perfect for National Ice Cream Day!

14.) Kream Kong Ice Cream – Seen at the OC Market, Kream Kong Ice Cream will soon be hitting up the streets via a new ice cream truck! Their offerings are handcrafted, organic and made from locally sourced ingredients. Their delicious flavors include peanut butter and jelly, ube, red velvet, avocado and banana cream pie. Kream Kong Ice Cream Truck will be launching this summer.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream…

I’m sure we are all now screaming for ice cream on National Ice Cream Day! All of the place above are some places that are sure to make you smile (and scream for) their ice cream. I hope every one enjoys a scoop or two 😉 today! Happy National Ice Cream Day!